Points to ponder...

[JMick]

So a couple of my own thoughts.

1) Maybe when Verducci is calling in the play to Sherriefs he should also shout out the name of who the primary receiver should be so that he won't automatically look to Thomas.
Example. play blah blah blah, DAVIS. Then he takes the snap and starts his progressions after looking at Davis and deciding he's not open. Then he go off to Thomas or whomever.
But at least that would force to spread the ball around and stop looking for his binky everytime. Crazy thought I know. But what the hell

2) As others have said, punt block every single time. Then if you don't block it and you want the returner to fair catch because he'll have 1 or 2 guys barreling down on him, fine. To not block and to fair catch seems like you're just feeding into the philosophy of UConn being so damn boring. Boring offense. Boring defense. Boring special teams unless Puyol is trying for a long FG. Boring schedule.

Crap, for returns, let's just go high school style. punt block with two returners splitting the field. that way we can be sure someone catches it.

 

[Jimdish255]

Exactly! Particularly the last UCF punt from their end zone where we pretty much need a big play to swing momentum and help our anemic offense. I'm standing there screaming to send the house because he's not returning it anyways. We don't rush. We have our kick returner standing out at the 50 and 10 guys acting like they're playing a bush in a middle school play. The UCF punter actually out kicks his coverage and we fair catch yet again when he could have walked a gain of 5-10 yds

Of all the decisions open for argument in this game, both ends of that punt situation were the most obvious combination of stubborn and scared coaching that plagues this team at crucial points every week. It proves there's a cement ceiling in place that Coach D will never rise above in terms of philosophy and game situations. The operative term is never. It's year 3 and they are trying to open up the offense the best way they know how but they're playing catch-up and still on their own learning curve.

 

[Confident Carl]

Define the category "old people"...

I'm tired of younger people calling old people old. I prefer the word seasoned.

 

[Confident Carl]

1. Eroding fan base
2. Millenials walking through Blue Lot pregame carrying 30 packs of Bud Light & not wearing protective gear against the elements.
3. Lack of imagination on offense: corollary- throw to other receivers beside Noel Thomas, a.k.a don't use them for window dressing
4. defensive backfield that plays soft instead of in your face
5. punt returner who won't return punts
6. quarterback that refuses to go through his progressions on pass plays
7. Inconsistency on pass protection by offensive linemen

I could go on, but you get the gist. Time to go to work

Good points. Although Diaco's conservative style maybe keeping us in games until the 4th quarter, it has cost us big time. When you throw the ball deep you throw interceptions sometimes but you also get favorable pass interference calls! As it has been said many times on this blog, he plays scared. He seems to be obsessed with his risk avoidant approach and is driving away the fan base in the process. I think Diaco has many good qualities as a college football coach but this is obviously one is one of his worst. He is probably one of those guys who can sit at a Black Jack table for 4 hours with $100.00 in his pocket but never win anything.

If you want to get some insight into adopting either a conservative or risky playing style read the attached article from 2009. I found it interesting and relevant.

Smart Football: Conservative and risky football strategies (and kurtosis)

 

[pepband99]

2) As others have said, punt block every single time. Then if you don't block it and you want the returner to fair catch because he'll have 1 or 2 guys barreling down on him, fine. To not block and to fair catch seems like you're just feeding into the philosophy of UConn being so damn boring. Boring offense. Boring defense. Boring special teams unless Puyol is trying for a long FG. Boring schedule.

Just to be clear - I am not saying that you should run a block every time. I'm starting to come around on being conservative on punts, after watching other teams shoot themselves trying to return. It's not completely insane.

BUT...

In the situation i described, you lose nothing by pressuring the punter. *maybe* you argue that they haven't run it enough, and they risk a penalty if badly executed, but that would still be on the coaches.

 

[noeynox]

Of all the decisions open for argument in this game, both ends of that punt situation were the most obvious combination of stubborn and scared coaching that plagues this team at crucial points every week. It proves there's a cement ceiling in place that Coach D will never rise above in terms of philosophy and game situations. The operative term is never. It's year 3 and they are trying to open up the offense the best way they know how but they're playing catch-up and still on their own learning curve.

I've called it on the job training. theyre never ahead of the curve and must be burned by a,situation before learning from it. How many times have we seen a play reviewed where we,should be rushing to the line to get a play off? it hasn't burned them yet so they do nothing to correct this. it's criminal that 2 million a year buys you that type of coaching awareness.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I was born in 1987, myself and pretty much people who were in undergrad the same time as me should be considered millenials. Born probably between 82-92. Although people stretch the timeframe, any younger and you're probably pushing it because I think the term is really meant to describe people who "came of age" during the beginning of the 2000s. If your first phone was a smart phone, don't remember AIM, dialup, mySpace or facebook before the newsfeed you definitely aren't in that generation.

Not that any of this really matters. Just a slow Tuesday morning.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I was born in 1987, myself and people pretty much people who were in undergrad the same time as me should be considered millenials. Born probably between 82-92. Although people stretch the timeframe, any younger and you're probably pushing it because I think the term is really meant to describe people who "came of age" during the beginning of the 2000s. If your first phone was a smart phone, don't remember AIM, dialup, mySpace or facebook before the newsfeed you definitely aren't in that generation.

Not that any of this really matters. Just a slow Tuesday morning.

Thanks. Not that it matters, but it's hard for someone like me, who was a junior at UConn when you were born, to come to grips with the distinctions. My daughter is 13, I have no idea what generation that is. But the differences seem minor for anyone who is "post internet", or at least broadband. It may be a skewed perception, but things seem more or less the same to me now as they were around 2000. Aside from smartphones and HDTV, not much has changed really, and neither of those are really that big a deal. It occurs to me that this probably means I'm getting old.

 

[mikedog10]

Thanks. Not that it matters, but it's hard for someone like me, who was a junior at UConn when you were born, to come to grips with the distinctions. My daughter is 13, I have no idea what generation that is. But the differences seem minor for anyone who is "post internet", or at least broadband. It may be a skewed perception, but things seem more or less the same to me now as they were around 2000. Aside from smartphones and HDTV, not much has changed really, and neither of those are really that big a deal. It occurs to me that this probably means I'm getting old.

Like DiacosArmy, I was your daughter's age in 2000. Seinfeld had just gone off the air, how often does your daughter come home from school and watch Seinfeld? When I was 13, not everyone had a computer and social media didn't exists. News was in the paper, not tweets. I only knew landlines, your daughter probably has only known smartphones. In 2000, kids learned about new music from MTV... that's right, MTV still played music! Do kids today even know what the "M" in MTV stands for? In 2000, Vermont just legalized civil unions for same-sex couples. In 2000, Tiger Woods became the youngest golfer to win a grand slam. In 2000, you could accompany airline travelers all the way to their gate, and sit in the terminal watching their flight leave! Maybe this stuff doesn't seem like a big deal to you, but it certainly feels like a world of difference to me.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Like DiacosArmy, I was your daughter's age in 2000. Seinfeld had just gone off the air, how often does your daughter come home from school and watch Seinfeld? When I was 13, not everyone had a computer and social media didn't exists. News was in the paper, not tweets. I only knew landlines, your daughter probably has only known smartphones. In 2000, kids learned about new music from MTV... that's right, MTV still played music! Do kids today even know what the "M" in MTV stands for? In 2000, Vermont just legalized civil unions for same-sex couples. In 2000, Tiger Woods became the youngest golfer to win a grand slam. In 2000, you could accompany airline travelers all the way to their gate, and sit in the terminal watching their flight leave! Maybe this stuff doesn't seem like a big deal to you, but it certainly feels like a world of difference to me.

My daughter does like Friends, but hasn't watched Sienfeld. She's a Supernatural junkie right now. I went to one of those civil unions back in 2000. I remember when MTV was launched...so remembering the time when it became irrelevant is really nothing. I remember when PC's first came into existence, so 2000, when they were really everywhere (most people had them in the early 90's..I bought my first in 1991) isn't much. I had color TV most of my life...but CRTs, not LCD, and I remember when cable first came out. I remember when VHS first came out, and CDs, and cassette tapes, and the Walkman, and DVD then Blu-ray. I had the first "pong" game system, then Coleco, before Nintendo came out and Xbox/Playstation. I was on the internet via a 2400 baud modem early on, when the WWW was just text, with underlined hyperlinks. Usenet was the equivalent of this forum. Good times.

I'll give you credit for news in newspapers, and no social media, no mobile phones, plus the security related changes from 9/11/01. Those stand out to me since 2000. I can only imagine what it will seem like in 30 more years.

 

[mikedog10]

My daughter does like Friends, but hasn't watched Sienfeld. She's a Supernatural junkie right now. I went to one of those civil unions back in 2000. I remember when MTV was launched...so remembering the time when it became irrelevant is really nothing. I remember when PC's first came into existence, so 2000, when they were really everywhere (most people had them in the early 90's..I bought my first in 1991) isn't much. I had color TV most of my life...but CRTs, not LCD, and I remember when cable first came out. I remember when VHS first came out, and CDs, and cassette tapes, and the Walkman, and DVD then Blu-ray. I had the first "pong" game system, then Coleco, before Nintendo came out and Xbox/Playstation. I was on the internet via a 2400 baud modem early on, when the WWW was just text, with underlined hyperlinks. Usenet was the equivalent of this forum. Good times.

I'll give you credit for news in newspapers, and no social media, no mobile phones, plus the security related changes from 9/11/01. Those stand out to me since 2000. I can only imagine what it will seem like in 30 more years.

Good stuff. Let's not forget my favorite new technology, DVR. I used to set the timer on my VCR so I could record shows I wouldn't be home to watch... then got in trouble for taping over home videos! Sounds like you've always been on the leading edge of new tech. Can't wait to see what cool gadgets we're talking about in 15 years!

This conversation is way more fun than talking about the actual football team. Let's hope they aren't obsolete in 15 years... who knows, maybe bend-don't-break defense and power running games will be all the rage then!

 

[Palatine]

We don't have enough points to ponder any of them.

Each point we have scored needs to be cherished. There are so precious few of them, we have none to waste.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Got a problem that needs a vague non-solution response? Blame Millenials!